The Public Economy in Crisis

This Brief proposes a new theory of public economics which deemphasizes reliance on the free market and affirms the importance of public goods and services within the context of the democratic process and constitutional governance. Public non-market production makes up from a quarter to more than half of all economic activity in advanced democratic nation-states. Yet by imposing market precepts on the public domain, as mainstream economics, political science, and public administration do, public governing capacity is weakened and the democratic system suffers. Agencies originally created to meet public needs are being warped into entities whose purpose is to generate revenue and, in some cases, deliver private profits at public expense. Drawing on classic public finance literature, this book illustrates the differences between public economy and the market model and why those differences matter. Building on this, the Brief sketches the elements of a new theory of the public non-market and illuminates its connections to the delegation of power and collective provision of resources from the polity. This book will be useful to scholars of public economics, political science, and public administration as well as policy makers and those working in the public sector. 

June Sekera, a Research Fellow at the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University, is a public policy practitioner and researcher. Her economics training was at MIT and at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, from which she earned a Masters in Public Administration. Recent research has been focused on the systemic dynamics and drivers of the public economy, and on problems of outcomes measurement in non-market environments. Other published articles and papers have dealt with public goods and public non-market production. She is founder and co-leader of GDAE's Public Economy Project, whose current initiatives involve studies of 'The Public Economy - Its Nature, Scope and Measurement' and of the 'Essential Economy.' The latter looks at how the public economy and the core economy represent fundamental economic systems without which the market could not operate. June has held leadership and management positions in the United States at federal, state and local levels of government. Her areas of content specialization include workforce training and development, labor exchange, public education, adult education, and economic development. She has been an advisor to national, state and local government and non-profit organizations on policy and program development, performance measurement and program evaluation.